The Cozumel Drift
Hurricane WILMA Update
Your E-Newsletter
from Scuba
Shack, Blue Bubble
Divers,
Dive
ECO-cozumel & the Village Tan
Kah
Cozumel,
Mexico
October 2005
Hello everyone. As
things are moving along, I wanted to give you an update as to how
things
are coming, because the
E-mails are pouring in. And this time, since we are
answering each
and everyone, please
understand if it takes us a couple of days to get to you and that
they
may short, direct, and to the
point.
It was brought to my
attention that in my last newsletter, I was downplaying the
severity
of a hurricane.
My apologies to anyone that thinks that was the point of the
letter. By no
means is a hurricane
easy to live through. But the hurricane itself is not the
worst part. It
is the afterwards,
specifically the days following. And depending on the
severity of the
damage, that determines
the number of days that are bad. With Hurricane Emily,
the
newsletter was released
2 days afterwards, and we were already diving that day. On
the
contrary, with
hurriance Wilma, we were unable to get anything out to you
until 1 week
afterwards. And
by then, everyone knows of how bad it was, the damage, the
pictures are
out there, the
negativity is reported..... So the point of view of
the last newsletter was
not
how bad the hurricane
was. You knew that already. The object of it was
on how we are
going to continue on in
the future. Please note, half of our staff is still
without
electricity,
including Robert and
myself. That is now 15 days. But
again,
living in
Mexico,
the tropics, on an
island, you become resourceful and
adaptable. I personally
find it funny
that the vacationers
who lost their vacation is the only
point of view that the foreign
news
agencies take.
What about everyone who lives here ? Maybe that is why we
can or have
to be more upbeat about
things because there is no where else to go but up !
Anyway,
my apologies, and on
to
bigger and better things.
Because if anyone things that this island is not going to be back
right on track by the end of next week, you are sadly
mistaken !!!!!!
IN THIS
EDITION:
Our heartfelt
THANKS... How can
we ever thank you enough !!!
Cozumel Capers... Unbelievable
!!!
The Scuba Shack
Skinny... How we are
cleaning ourselves up
!!!
Others
on the
island...
The list
continues
!!!
Reef Update... What we have
all been waiting for !!!
OUr heartfelt thanks
!!
When we came up with the
"special" offer for our Wilma survival and rebuilding,
we
never anticipated just how many
of you would come to us in our time and need.
We
know and love all of you, and
you are more like our family than our customers,
but
still..... we never expected
this much generosity from all of you. It is with
tears
in my eyes right now, that I am
writing to thank each and everyone of you who
is
sending us money now. We
don't even know the words that express the
gratitude
that we feel. We now know
exactly where the heart of Scuba Shack and Blue
Bubble
divers lies, and we THANK you from the
bottom of our hearts. Every
single
person who
works here at Scuba Shack, Blue Bubble Divers and the Village Tan
Kah
thanks you
!
In
addition, we need to express thanks for all of the people here on
the island who
have
been helping us immensely. The next time that you guys come
to Cozumel,
please make sure to pass by to either Kelley's Bar and
Grill, and thank Gene
for letting me charge
the computer every day. And Scott the
Chirprocter for
letting me use his phone lines while mine were
out. And of course, Tony Rome,
at
his
restaurant, for power and then the high speed internet.
Without those 3
people, you guys would just be hearing the first of me now
!
Cozumel Capers
There is a process that the island goes
through, and I imagine all areas (cities,
towns,
rural areas, etc) go through after a
disaster. And it is a natural process where
the
general good comes out in
everyone. So, after a hurricane, the first day, the
small
wheels of each household are
turning. Everyone is cleaning up their little living
area,
and helping with the street, downed
lines, trees, etc. With a hurricane that inflicted
the
amount of damage as Wilma, then the next
step kicks in. And that was all last
week,
where the wheels were also created at
each company. The workers come, help clean
up,
clean up the street, collect the
destroyed items (leaves as well as stuff) in
collectable
areas so that it will be easier for the
general clean up. And last week we saw that.
We
were VERY impressed with the swiftness
of the electric company's arrival and the
amount
of forces that they brought. The
federal government stepped in and brought a huge
ferry
that was able to manuver the downed car ferry pier until it
was rebuilt (4 days) and
the
regular ferry arrived. In the mean
time, ships arrived and food was being helicoptered
in,
and really, there was no time at all
when anyone was without food or drinking water.
OK,
long lines at the grocery store or
having to go to many different places to find
specific
items, but that just reminded us of what
Cozumel used to be 12 years ago!! We were
not
without. All of the differnt
wheels were turning.
Now, what we have
never seen before, is what is happening this week. Starting
with this
past Monday, this
huge wheel is now turning and the entire island is getting caught
up in it.
And this is the
rebuilding of Cozumel by the end of next week. And if any
of you are
disbelievers, I
tell you, I wouldn't have believed it either if I was
not seeing it with my
own eyes.
* Electricity - After Gilbert, people were
without electricity for months. After
Roxanne,
which was a nothing, baby hurricane, Cat 1, it was almost 3 weeks
before the entire island
had
electricity. This time, wow, they are working so
hard. And it is really nice to see
the
pride that the workers who come in from other parts of the
Mexican nation bring with
them.
On
the back of their trucks, they have painted where they come from
- Monterray, Reynosa -
those places are located along the Texas/Mexico border.
Imagine how far they had to
drive
just
to get here ! And they are working long hours. Yes,
we don't all have electricity,
but
that
should be changed soon. Actually, Blue Bubble office has,
and they told me
yesterday
that
Scuba Shack will be
today.
* Street Damage - There were 4 parts of the
street that runs from town to the south
hotel
zone where the barrier wall/walk was destroyed
and half of the raod washed away - at
the
place where the boats come in and out of the
water, at Papa Hogg's, before the south
hotel
zone and
at Casa del Mar.. Some of those places the black water
drain broken as
well. As
of end of day Thursday, the first one was
completely filled in, and they were packing it
down
so that the street can be laid. The
sidewalks were ready and they had the molds built so
that
the cement can be poured today. At Papa
Hogg's, be drain is fixed and they even built
a
special wall around it so that if this should
happen again, it will not break the drain, and
it
was almost completely filled in. The 3rd
location, before the hotel zone, was graded,
and
they were starting to fill it in. And
Casa del Mar is being filled up with all of the
broken
down buildings down by us. By mid next
week, this will all be
done.
* Temporary Clean-up
crews. The government offered for 1 month jobs for 1000
people
to go and clean up
all of the streets of Cozumel. And they are doing a
wonderful job.
That is why
downtown was able to clean up so quickly and the rest of the town
now is well
on the way.
This is much faster than what we saw after Emily, and I was
impressed by
that effort
!
*
Downtown waterfront - Everything
is all cleaned up. There is not more debris on
the
streets. All of the dead palms have been dug out, and holes
left there. Seems to me
like
they are
planning on replanting something else ! All of the water
front stores are cleaning, rebuilding, drying out, it is
absolutely amazing. The crews are now out there,
repainting
the sea
wall. Everything around the square is primping up.
And the surrounding areas
are
all
open. If you were low and not on the water front, almost no
damage was sustained.
* Telephones - this week we have seen in influx of
the telephone fleets. They are
working
on every
corner, all over this place. Soon, our phone lines should
be up and
running.
There are a number
of factors that are influencing this. Of course, everyone
wants to
have the cruise
ship business back. That puts people on the
island for the businesses.
But
the cruise ships
won't come if 1 - the place does not look nice, and 2 - if
there is not a c
ertain % of shops
open. Last weekend the reps from the various cruise lines
were brought
in, and for obvious
reasons, they did not leave with a positive attitude. They
are returning
this coming Wed and
Thu, and final decisions will be made. I cannot see how
downtown is
not going to meet
their standards. Also, we are getting a HUGE influx of
goverment help.
I mean huge.
It helps that the Governor comes from Cozumel, so he is working
closely with
the Mayor to bring
in all of the necessary resources to get this job rolling.
And it helps
alot the President
Vicente Fox has been here, is a businessman, and knows the
importance
of this entire
region. Just a note - Mexico's 2 leading industries are
Oil and
Tourism.
Quintana Roo, the
state of Cozumel, Cancun, Playa del Carmen and the Riviera
Maya,
brings in 40% of
the annual tourism revenues. So, this area is important to
the
government.
As are the cruise lines.
Scuba Shack
Skinny
Well, we are cleaned up. The pool is drained,cleaned and
being refilled. The dive
shop
is
temporarily set up in the Shark room, while we remodel the
library area to
handle
this
job !! This means then by Thanksgiving, we will be able to
have all the
rooms
available for anyone who is looking for rooms. The palm
trees are shooting out
baby
coconuts. Good sign - reproduction ! The new palm
leaves are out, and eveyrthing is
now
starting to turn green. The palapa on the Treehouse will be
fixed next week, and
then
the
hotel is
A-OK.
As for the dive shop, we are
getting is all set up. We are waiting for a couple of
estimates
on how to build it up again. And
insurance adjustors to show up ! We will see. The
boats are getting ready. 2 are ready, convertible
style while we are waiting for the tops
to
be made. And the others are
getting all gussied up with
fiberglass.......
Tanks though, we are still on the look
out. We have recoved only 40 of 120 tanks.
So,
there are more out there and we are
trying to figure out which trip they took and
what
the final destination was
!!!!!!!
A big round of applause to Gladys
and Clinton Neeley - they are going to be our
very
1st customers after the hurricane. And they
arrive here on Monday
!
Others on the
island
Now, most of youhave been wondering how
the rest of the island is doing, for
restaurants,
places to go at night, etc. Well,
things are really getting back on
normal.
Restaurants
There is more than enough food on the
island, so the restaurants are all open. I
had
wanted to give you a list of good news -
who is open. But it is going to be really
long.
But I will try quick - our most
favorites - Prima, La Cocay, The Veranda, Pepe's
Grill,
Nino's Pizza, La Choza, Kelley's
Bar and Grill, Domino's Pizza, Garden of Eatin',
Plaza
Leza, Casa Dennis, Especias, Los Seras
Tacos, La Mission Tacos, La paroquia, La
Mission...
the list really does go
on. So, here is the list of who is out of commission and
how
long
they will
take:
aRock
'N Java - Looked alot worse that it really was. They
are cleaning out, and
I
think they will be open by
Thanksgiving. Mostly flood
damage.
aMesa 17
- Well, I am not sure if it was in the makings before hand or if
the hurricane
was the reason but they are closed for
good. They have sold all of the tables, chairs,
etc.
to Rock 'N Java and they have
returned
to home.
aFrench
Quarter - Well, the palapa fell down, and the palapa guys are
working on it.
T
hey say 2 weeks, Mexican time. But
they did show up today - they were supposed to
s
tart on Monday. Close
enough. And, Mike is taking the chance to redo the bar
downstairs.
So, Thanksgiving is not looking
realistic for opening, and Mike is taking his time.
Christmas
for sure, maybe before in
December.
aErnesto's Fajitas - they are going to be out of
commission for a while. Expect a Dec
opening.
aPalapa Restaurant at Casa del Mar - closed
until Dec 15. The entire Palapy came
down.
aMexico en los Siglos - He is pretty much
cleaned up, just waiting to open when
there
will be more
customers. Now, that the flights will be starting, we will
just have to
see.
Other than that, there is nothing that
is closed. Basically, it is everything on the
ocean,
with the exception of the French Quarter
and Mesa 17 that is a permanent
close.
Night
Life
Right now, the curfew has been
extended and is now from midnight to 5 am. That
should
be changing again this weekend, as more
electricity is restored. There are very
few
areas without. But, there
is still no sell of alcohol - to the locals. All
foreigners can
drink. I guess they don't
think that any of the Americans/Canadians/Europeans
that
live on the island are drunks....... ha
ha. So, needless to say, there is really no need
for
any of the bars to be open right
now. But, we understand that at the latest, the dry
law
will be lifted on Nov 14, when the first
cruise ships arrive. Surprisingly, Viva
Mexico
did not have all that much damage.
And Carlos 'N Charlies are feverishly getting
ready
for their first big day, Nov 14.
All restaurants are serving to the
foreigners.
Hotels
There are so few
hotels open right now, that this is really our limiting factor,
both for
where you guys to
stay as well as for the airlines to determine how many flights
to
bring in.
Right now, most of the hotels in town are open - Flores,
MaryCarmen,
not
sure about the
Meson San Miguel, Hotel Aguilar is open, etc. Bahia and
Colonial
are
closed because
they just got electricity yesterday and they will begin
cleaning.
Casa
Mexicana is
OPEN. You will see on Funjet, and all of the charter
operators the
date
listed for opening
as Dec some time. All of their rooms are 100% ready
and the
airco
is now
working. The problem with them is that their escalators are
not, and they
left
the lobby for last
to clean. They are housing right now all of the architects
and big
wigs
who are coming in
from outside of the island, and the only other people they will
take
are divers.
That means, you cannot make a reservation for them, but I
can. And I
have
toured the
hotel. Except for the escalators, everything is
fine. Oooh, one thing I
better
check on is the
elevators.... I will find that out and let you know in the
next
update.
Hotel Cozumel is
scheduled to open on November 15. Since this hotel has only
3 floors,
they did not
sustain much room damage. One thing that is completely gone
on the
island
are the
piers. There are no more piers on the island.
Everyone is rebuilding. The
only
piers that still
stand are 2 of the 3 cruise ship piers, the ferry pier, and
pieces of
the
pier we used in
town. All hotels, dive shops, everyone lost their
pier. So this means
that
for diving,
everyone is going to the marinas to get on their boats. We
will be doing
alot
of gear storage
and tagging and making sure that everything gets on the right
boats.
As
for the openings
of the other hotels, well, looks like some of the hotels will be
open by
Christmas, Casa
Mexicana, and Casa del Mar, parts of the Reef Club,
Playa
Azul.....
Everything else is
realistcally looking towards the end of Jan. But that
changes
daily.
Apple Vacations
and Funjet Vacations are by far the 2 biggest charter companies
that
work with the
island. And their listed dates do not cooincide.
Basically, anyone who has reservations for Thanksgiving and
Christmas and want to insure that they get to spend
it
here, you
should get to their travel agent or
contact the hotel or tour operator,
and
make althernate
arrangements now. There are
going to be alot of unavailable
rooms,
and if you want to
insure yourself in one of the available rooms, then make your
plans
now !!!!!!!!
Of course, you can always check with us to see if we still have
space :)
Flights and Charter
Operations
It seems like alot of the airlines (both
scheduled air and charter lines) are abandoning
us
in our time of need. But if the
hotel rooms are not available, then they do not feel
the
need to have to service us. What
they do not take into consideration is the
smaller
hotels, like the Village Tan Kah.
What can a place with 8 rooms do? But if there
are
10 small hotels with 8 rooms, now there
are 80 rooms available, that they really do
not
see. As well as all of the private
houses and condos that you can rent. So, you might
have
to get creative or come through Cancun
in order to visit us. Believe me, it will be
well
worth the extra time. It is quite
easy actually.
As for scheduled air flights, as of
this Sat, Continental will resume flights to Cozumel
-
only 3 days a week until Nov 20, and
then they will resume to the 1 a day
schedule.
YEAH!! Just in time for
Thanksgiving !!!!!!! Mexicana has been flying in
daily from
Mexico City. The flight departs
out of there at 10:30 am, so it really is an
easy
connection to make. US
Airways has resumed flight schedule for this weekend
from
BOTH Detroit and Charlotte. Only
certain days of the week, so if anyone knows
which
days, please let me know.
American Airlines, Northwest and United have
bailed on
us.
They have cancelled their daily flight
until Dec 15. After that, American will
opperate
3 days a week - Fri, Sat, Sun.
NW codeshares with Continental so it appears that
they
are just going to funnel everyone
through Houston. United I am showing starting Dec
15
from both Chicago and Denver(?).
Denver is news to me. Also, Frontier will begin
to
operate directly from Denver to Cozumel
as of Dec 17. Also, I noticed a news
update,
DELTA is beginning in March (I
hope this is still on) for Los Angeles as well as
Salt
Lake City DIRECT to Cozumel. So,
all of you guys coming in from Washington,
Idaho
area, this should make things easier for
you !
Now, for the charter flights, everyone
has cancelled here to Cozumel
through
Thanksgiving at least, if not through
Christmas. I am not able to find flight
schedules
for any of them. They may be just
funneling people through Cancun for a while. I
do
not know. But will try to find out
by next week for
you.
So, this is all the info I have, which
is what I am getting off of the websites. If
anyone
has more up to date info, please let me
know !!!!!!!
Reef
Update
This is the
part that you have all been waiting for. Yesterday, we had
a meeting
with
the Marine
National Park and they released their evaluation of the
reefs.
Obviously,
with a
hurricane of this magnitude and for the duration that it was on
top of us,
the
shallower
reefs sustained some damage, but the deeper reefs,
surprisingly not as
much.
One of the
biggest things that
you will notice is how much sand was washed away.
In
some parts,
up to 12 feet of sand is gone. Meaning, that when you look
at the reef,
you
see alot
more damage that is really there, because you see all of the base
white
coral/rock
from
centuries ago. And that perception is what we are trying to
battle now,
because
it really is
not dead, that is just what has been growning for centuries,
actually
millenums,
if you
really think about it. It also means that there are alot
more swim throughs
and
tunnels to
explore. But this is not intended to downplay that alot of the
gargonians
and
the barrell
sponges have been damaged. The fragile corals as well,
finger and
lettuce
leaf, have
broken, yet those are the fastest to grow. All of this
information is
based
on what the
Marine Park has told us. WE HAVE NOT BEEN OUT ON THE REEFS
T
O SEE THIS
WITH OUR OWN EYES. More good news, it does not appear that
much
of the fish
life is gone. As a matter of fact, they reported seeing
more turtles,
sharks
and spotted
eagle rays than
usual.
What is being done for the reefs
right now you might ask?? Daily boats go out to
help
clean the reefs. There are alot of
palapa bits, palm trees, deck chairs that were
washed
on and round the reefs, so we are
cleaning that up in conjunction with the
Marine
National
Park.
What can you do?? Besides
get here to dive, while you are diving, you will need to
be
EXTREMELY careful with your neutral
buoyancy and maintain a farther distance
from
the reef than usual, so that we are not
even accidentally damaging any of the new
growths.
Be more than extra careful if you are
bringing a camera or video equipment. Also,
we
are really going to work on NOT
OVERWEIGHTING divers. So many customers say
they
need that much weight to dive,
when there may be some other techniques that might
help
you dive better. Please respect
and listen to the divemasters if they have a
suggestion
for you. Who know, besides the
weight going down, your air consumption rate
might
decrease as well and you will be able to
have even more time under the water
!!!!!!!!
All in
all..............
To be very honest with you, things are
really coming together. For any of you who
were
having your doubts about heading this
way, really, it is all available to you. For
people
who do have upcoming reservations,
again, I would suggest not waiting till you
hear
something, especially if you want to be
here for Christmas and New Years. If this
is
where you want to be, make your plans
now.
Everyone here at Scuba Shack, Dive
ECO-cozumel, Blue Bubble Divers and Village Tan Kah would not be
here right now if it was not for YOU - our customer. We
thank you from the bottom of our hearts, really, we do. And
we are looking forward to seeing you again soon here
!!!!!!!!
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Thanks
!
Robert
and Roberta and All of the staff of Scuba Shack, Blue Bubble Divers and
Dive
ECO-cozumel and All of the staff from the Village Tan Kah hotel
!
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